Reckoning
by Kage no Koji
Summary: SEQUEL TO ORLY? A year has passed since Courtney, Julie, and Colleen have been kidnapped. Now, they have to deal with a far more serious situation at hand...the events of Kingdom Hearts 2. As they race to plan a way to save the Org they have come to love, they struggle with trying to survive by themselves and against Xemnas. Will they survive this ordeal? Or will they disappear?


_**Author: Well, if you're here because you saw my notcie in Orly?, then I welcome you! If you're here because you sw this nd it looked interesting, you may be a little lost. XD So, before you read, you may want to read Orly?, the prequel to Reckoning. **_

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Kingdom Hearts or anything related to it. I only own my OC's and the plot.**

**WARNING: RECKONING CONTAINS HARSH LANGUAGE. VIOLENCE, SERIOUS THEMES, SEXUAL SITUATIONS, GORE, AND OTHER SUCH THINGS! NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!**

**Reckoning**

**Ch I: Talmai**

A year had finally passed. A year since three girls had been plucked from their high school and thrust into the world of Kingdom Hearts. These three peculiar girls were named Courtney Hounshell, Julie Crone, and Colleen Ewing. And though their venture into such a dangerous world had started off as light as a down feather, all too quickly had it become heavy and dark. But now...now was the time for them to make their move.

Courtney paced inside her room, running her gloved hands through her chocolate brown locks of hair. No longer was it long and flowing as it used to be, but now it had been chopped short in a spunky fashion. The front was longer than the back, messy slanted bangs framing her piercing white washed blue eyes. She pushed her glasses up her nose, sighing as she glanced at a floor length mirror by her tatami bed. She looked far different than when she had came toThe Castle That Never Was. Her face was more drawn, lips almost permanently pressed into a fine line. Her skin was pock marked with scars, most hidden by her modified cloak. Yet one hand drifted to her face, fingers running over the puckered white scar running from ear to chin. A sour reminder of her fight with Dravande. She felt old...like four years had passed rather than one. And she hated it.  
"Courtneeeeeey? You in there?" A cheery voice asked from outside the Whip master's door, followed by a sharp rapping. It was Colleen and Julie no doubt. The three girls were still very close, having to cling to each other as their situation grew worse and worse. Courtney opened the door, a small smile gracing her chapped lips. There before her, stood Courtney's closet friends. Colleen gave a toothy grin back at the smallest young woman while Julie settled for a more conservative show of affection. They looked much the same as a year ago... Yet the two had the same underlying look of stress and age on their faces. Courtney embraced them in a hug, pulling them in to her room quickly. Once she let go, she finally laughed.  
"Did you two get lost?" Courtney asked in a jovial tone. Julie rolled her eyes and scoffed.  
"More like the silver haired idiot was taking too long. That meeting went on forever!" The Butcher exclaimed.  
"Yeah! Mansex just kept talking!" Colleen complained. Courtney only shook her head, still grinning.  
"He's such a wind bag. But, that's besides the point." Courtney said with a wave of her hand. She glanced around the room, eyes seeing if anything was out o place.  
"We need a safe place to talk about something." Courtney said, her voice low and serious. Julie immediately brought out a small orb from her pocket, holding it in the palm of her hand. It glowed a soft green, pulsating as if with its own miniature heart beat. Julie tossed it into the air above their heads, watching as it shuddered and exploded into a half done that expanded. The green dome easily fit all three young women inside, giving them room to settle on the floor.  
"Whoa...that's a nifty little tool. What does it do?" Courtney asked, poking one wall. The green dome shuddered and sent ripples from her fingertips. It felt odd, like it was made of jello. Julie gave the Mistress a sly smile.  
"You'd be amazed at what Vexen can do when he's not bitching. And it's a special field that prevents anyone from hearing us or seeing us. Say someone is looking at us through a magical object, or tying to scry us, all they would see is our surroundings. But not us." Julie explained, shrugging as if it were nothing.  
"Sweet! So we could totally spy on people!" Colleen exclaimed. The Butcher only shook her head in exasperation.  
"If someone happens to run into the shield from the outside, the effects would be nulled and reveal anyone under it. It's not exactly meant for spying." Julie chided. Colleen's shoulders sagged in disappointment, and she pouted like a child would.  
"Okay, anyways... I wanted to talk to you guys about what happened after Dravande." Courtney interjected, looking serious. The other two women looked up at her with surprised faces, brows pinched in confusion.  
"But Courntey... I mean, are you sure you're up to it?" Julie asked softly, receiving a hard stare from the Mistress. Her mouth was set in a firm line, eyes narrowed behind her wire framed glasses.  
"If I can't get over him, I'm not going to get over anything else." She said, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose.  
"But first, I have some worrying news." Courtney took a folded paper from her cloak, snapping it open to reveal a report of sorts.  
"I was crawling around the vents the other day and I happened to see this on Mansex's desk." Courtney handed it to Julie, who gasped.  
"This is..."  
"It's a list of all the Organization members who are going to Castle Oblivion. Now we all know what that means." Courtney stated grimly.  
"It means that the original events of this world is going to happen. But logically, our appearance should have drastically altered the timeline an future events!" Julie exclaimed, passing the paper to Colleen.  
"Logically, yes. But our appearance in Kingdom Hearts must not have impacted the world like we thought. And if so, that means Sora will take the same path he did in Kingdom Hearts 2." Courtney replied, crossing her arms over her chest.  
"Which means he'll start killing Organization members. Maybe even...us." Colleen stated with a nervous gulp.  
"There has to be a way to save them! I mean, we have to try!" Julie said, distress crossing her face.  
"Which brings me back to the topic of Dravande. You guys remember that I disappeared for a while, right?" Courtney asked. The two young women nodded, brows furrowing in confusion.  
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" Julie asked, skeptical. Courtney stood, and thrust one hand out. With a whoosh, a Dark Door stood open before them. The usual swirling black abyss was replaced with a strange mixture of green and blue, spiraling off into no man's land.  
"It'll be easier to show you than explain. Come on." Courtney said, waving her friends as she stepped through the portal. As Courtney disappeared through the Dark Door (or strangely colored Door), Colleen glanced at Julie.  
"You think she's still...in the deep end?" The frizzy haired Vortex asked. Julie shook her head, standing as well.  
"I dunno. But something doesn't feel right. Courtney's been acting peculiar lately." Julie responded, observing the door. Courtney was keeping it going in the other side it seemed.  
"I'll say! Luxord says she hasn't been sleeping in the same room with him lately. And he swears he doesn't know why!" Colleen exclaimed, nervously eyeing the door. They had all become a little more cautious in their year at the Castle. Vexen's constant testing and Larxene's random attacks kept them on their toes.  
"But...we can't doubt each other. Especially not now." Julie said darkly, swiftly stepping into the Dark Door. Colleen sighed.  
"And they say I'm the crazy one..." She muttered before hopping after Julie.

When Colleen next opened her eyes, she felt her jaw drop in awe of the spectacular scenery around her. It was as if they had stepped into the garden if Adam and Eve. They stood in the middle of a field, where bright green grass swayed in the throes of a gentle zephyr, brushing against Colleen's thighs in soft tickles. Just hardly a mile from them was the tree line of an impressive forest, where deciduous trees ran rampant, towering like skyscrapers into the baby blue sky above. The sun shone down upon the scene, vaguely showing the outline of towering mountains in the distance, whose snow topped peaks disappeared in a haze of mist and clouds. Colleen could hear the burbling of a brook nearby, hidden by the overgrown grass and abundant foliage. Just beyond her field of hearing was a waterfall, cascading down upon rocks and boulders that had been worn from years of pounding water and into smooth steps. The water pooled into a spring, clear as the smoothest glass. A person could see right down into it and observe the calm bottom, where fish zoomed about the rocks and birds flocked to nearby trees for shelter.  
"This place is...amazing!" Colleen exclaimed. Julie made a similar notion, squealing as she saw a dark cloud of four legged animals run through the field at the opposite end.  
"Are those horses?!" She demanded, staring at them with a longing look in her hazel eyes. Courtney grinned.  
"Yes...just like the horses we used to ride at Crystal Farms!" Courtney said, as the herd of wild horses disappeared over the crest of a hill.  
"This is where I went after my fight with Dravande. It's a paradise, and it's completely untouched. No one besides us knows its whereabouts, not even Mansex." Courtney explained, a gloved hand running through the tall green grass.  
"Wait, how can he not know about it? Didn't he send Vexen here after you refused to tell him about your exploration?" Julie demanded. Courtney shook her head in response, frowning.  
"That's the thing. When I spied on them later, Vexen said he just ended up in Twilight Town. And when Mansex tried, he ended up in Wonderland." Courtney supplied, rubbing her chin.  
"That's insane!" Colleen exclaimed, unable to believe it. Xemnas was supposed to know about every world they visited, and had the ability to manipulate Dark Doors!  
"My theory is that so far, only I can open the door to this world. And that even when Mansex made me open a door and walk through it first, he still never ended up here. I think it has to do something with the fact that he doesn't have a Heart." Courtney proposed, sighing.  
"But then why are we here? We don't have our Hearts either, yet we made it through just fine!" Julie rebuked, crossing her arms skeptically.  
"That's because...I have your Hearts." Courtney admitted in a solemn tone. At first, the Mistress was greeted only by an awkward and uneasy silence, one that wasn't even punctured by the sounds of nature around them. Slow realization finally dawned upon the two very confused young women.

"Then why the hell didn't you tell us?! Vexen could have easily replaced ours!" Julie burst out, feeling a deep pang in her empty chest.  
"Would you let me explain?!" Courtney snapped, looking agitated. Julie and Colleen both flinched, taking a reflexive step back. Sure, they had seen an angry Courtney before...but the small brunette had never directed her wrath at them! It was unnerving! With an angry sigh, Courtney began to explain.  
"The reason I was so messed up after the whole Dravande incident, is because I accidentally absorbed your guys Hearts. Don't ask me how, because I don't know!" Courtney took a breath, pinching the bridge of her nose.  
"Anyways, the theory is that it must be a reaction to try and avoid becoming a Heartless. I swear, I was close to becoming one in the fight. But I didn't. I ended up going almost batshit crazy." Courtney groaned.  
"The moment I stepped here though, I knew why I had been acting so strange. Not only did I absorb your Hearts, but I also took on the extra toll if your original emotions." Courtney explained, her eyes clouding over with memory.  
"So, the reason you were so emotionally insane, was because of the burden of three times the impact of emotions." Julie deduced. Courtney nodded.

"Exactly. But when I came here, I felt so much...lighter. But the effect only lasts about a day. I have to come here every day to 'get my dose of medicine' per se." Courtney stated.  
"So that's why you haven't shared a room with Luxord!" Colleen exclaimed, snapping her fingers. Courtney almost laughed.  
"Yeah... And I know he's confused and probably the British equivalent of upset with me, but I can't tell any if the Organization members besides you two. It's too much of a risk." Courtney said with a sad sigh. She didn't like having to keep a secret this big from Luxord...but it was necessary.  
"Isn't there some way to remove our Hearts from you, short of killing you?" Julie asked, partially joking. Courtney shrugged.  
"I've gone through Vexen's notes and all the books I can find in Hearts, but I've found nothing. And we can't just ask him." Courtney said darkly.  
"Why not?" Colleen questioned, earning herself a sharp look from the Mistress of Weather.  
"Because, if he tells Xemnas, we could be in a shit load of trouble. When I eavesdropped on Mansex a few weeks after first coming here, I found out that he wanted to use our Hearts for something. I couldn't really tell what he meant, but I'm going to assume that he means as sacrifices or conductors. And at the time, he was seriously considering getting rid of all of us if I turned into a Nobody was well." Courtney said grimly. Julie and Colleen cast each other worried looks.  
"Thus the secrecy..." Julie murmured. Courtney smiled sadly.  
"Unfortunately, yes. This means we can't tell anyone else. Not even our lovers." Courtney warned. Julie sighed.  
"Well, this is a cluster fuck of a situation." The Butcher commented. Courtney barked out a laugh.  
"And a year ago, we thought this was best thing ever. Well, once we got past the while losing our Hearts thing." Colleen commented with a cheeky grin.  
"So what are we going to do now?" Julie pressed, unable to suppress a smile of her own. Courtney shrugged.  
"I don't know for sure...but right now, I want you to meet someone." She said, tugging on both her friends arms and towards a particular hill with grass still trampled from the pounding hooves of a thousand horses. Julie grinned. Now this was going to be an excellent change of pace for once.

_**Author: I typed this up in one day! XD That's about 2,375 words without author comments, disclaimer, and warning. Props and cookies to anyone who figures out what the chapter title means! ;D**_

_**Ohhhh, shit is getting seriooooouuusssss! W **_

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